Carpet-stretcher



(No Model.)

G. A. CHAMBERLAIN.

CARPET STRBTGHER.

Patented Feb. 25, 1896.

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AN DREW BYGRAHAM. PHITTOUTHQWASHI NGTON o C w a; WITNESSE UNITED STATES COURTLAND A. CHAMBERLAIN, OF CANTON, NElV YORK.

CARPET-STRETCH ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 555,362, dated February 25, 1896. Application filed May 10, 1895. Serial No. 548,830. (No model.)

To aZZ whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, COURTLAND A. CHAM- BERLAIN, of Canton, in the county of St. Lawrence and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Carpet Stretcher, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in carpet-stretchers, and has for its object to providea carpet-stretcher of a simple and inexpensive construction adapted for convenient use, by means of which the carpet may be stretched and held in its stretched position while being tacked or nailed.

The invention consists in a plate or board provided with prongs or projections to engage and hold the carpet to be stretched, in combination with a standard having a pivoted lever connected by a suitable flexible connector with the said plate and adapted when operated to move the same, so as to stretch the carpet, said connector havingits ends connected, respectively, to the standard and to said carpet-holding plate or board, and having its intermediate portion carried around rollers on the lever and standard.

The invention also contemplates certain other novel features of construction, including means whereby the carpet when stretched may be held in its stretched position while being nailed or tacked, all as will be hereinafter fully set forth.

The novel features of the invention will be carefully defined in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a general view, drawn to a small scale, showing the application of my improved carpet-stretcher for use in stretching carpets. Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken through the standard of the carpet-stretcher, showing the operating-lever in an intermediate position. Fig. 3 is an inverted plan view showing the construction of the carpet-holding plate; and Fig. i is an enlarged fragmentary detail view showing the device for retaining said plate in position after the carpet has been stretched.

In the views, 1 represents the carpet-holding plate or board, which is of a generallyrcctangular form and composed of wood or similar material, provided in its under side with inclined projecting prongs or teeth 2, adapted to engage and hold the carpet to be stretched, and provided at one side or edge with a projecting eye 3, to which is attached one end of a flexible cord or rope a, the opposite end of which is passed undera sheave or roller '7 journaled at the lower end of a vertical groove 5 formed in the vertical standard 6 of the device, along which groove 5 said cord is passed, as clearly seen in Figs. 1 and 2. At the upper end of the groove 5 is arranged a similar sheave or roller 8, journaled at rightangles to the sheave '7, and the cord 4 is also passed over this sheave 8, being carried up diagonally and over a similar sheave.

9 j ournaled between the forks or bifurcations 10 at the rear end of the operating-lever 11, pivoted at 12 at the upper end of the vertical standard 6, as clearly seen in Figs. 1 and 2, the extremity of said cord 4 being carried downward after having been passed over said sheave 0, and being passed through a perforation 13 in the standard 6 and knotted, as seen at 14: in said figures.

The standard 6 may be of any preferred form and height, and the lever 11 may be pivoted thereon in any preferred manner. Said standard will usually be provided at its lower end with sharpened pins or projections 15 ,adapted to engage the floor, whereby the device may be conveniently held in a vertical position while being used.

In order to retain the carpet in its stretched condition,I provide a retaining device secured to the carpet-holding plate 1. This device consists of a bar 16 of metal of suitable proportions, having its opposite ends 17 bent parallel downward and provided at their extremities-with points 18 arranged to pass down through perforations 19, suitably formed in the plate 1, into position to pass through the carpet and engage the floor beneath. The bar 16 is held in position by means of a leather thong 20. secured, as indicated at 21, to one side of the plate 1. The thong 20 will usually be somewhat elastic,'so as to normally hold the retaining device in its raised position, as seen in full lines in Fig. 4.

In operation, the standard 6 tical position adjacent to the base-board at one side of the room, and the lever 11 being raised,

is set in its veras indicated in full lines in Fig. 1, permits the cord 4: to be drawn outwardly from the lower end of said standard, so as to allow the carpetholding plate to be engaged with the edge of the carpet to be stretched at a little distance from the base-board. After the plate 1 has been thus engaged with the carpet the lever 11 is moved downward in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1 to the position seen in dotted lines, whereby it will be seen that the cord 4 'ill be drawn in so as to move the plate 1 to the position seen in dotted lines in Fig 1. \Vhen the carpet has been stretched and the lever 11 is in its lowered position, the bar 16 is pressed downwardly by means of the foot or otherwise so as to cause its points 18 to pass through the carpet and engage the floor below, so as to lock the plate 1 securely in position. lVhen this has been accomplished the edge of the carpet is tacked securely and the device moved along and the operation above described is repeated.

A carpet-stretcher constructed as above described is of an extremely simple and inexpensive nature, and being provided with means for holding the carpet-holding plate in position after the carpet has been stretched is much more convenient and better adapted for use than other devices heretofore employed.

It will be evident that some departure may be made in the construction of the device as herein shown and described, and for this rea- "son I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the exact arrangement of the parts as herein set forth.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In acarpet-stretcher, the combination of a carpet-holding plate having means of attachment to the carpet, a vertical standard having a roller at its lower part, a lever pivoted at the upper end of said standard and provided at one end with a roller, and a cord secured at one end to the carpet-holding plate and at its other end to the standard, the intermediate portion of said cord being carried over the rollers on the standard and on the lever, substantially as set forth.

2. In a carpet-stretcher, the combination of a carpet-holding plate having means for attachment to the carpet to be stretched, a vertical standard having two rollers journaled at its lower part at right angles to one another, a lever pivoted at the upper partof said standard, and having its pivot-pin parallel with the journal of the upper roller on the standard, and a cord secured at one end to the carpet-holding plate, said cord being carried over the rollers at the lower part of the standard and being connected to one end of said lever, substantially as set forth.

3. In acarpet-stretcher, the combination of a carpet-holding plate having means for attachment to the carpet to be stretched, a vertical standard having two rollers journaled at its lower part at right angles to one another, a lever pivoted at the upper part of said standard, and having its pivot-pin parallel with the journal of the upper roller on the standard, a roller journaled on the end of said lever, and a cord having its ends secured to the carpet-holding plate, and to the standard respectively, and having its intermediate portion carried over the rollers on the standard and on the end of the lever substantially as set forth.

4:. In a carpet-stretcher, the combination of a carpet holding plate having projections adapted to engage the carpet to be stretched and provided with perforations, and a movable bar secured to said plate and having its ends bent downward and provided with points adapted to extend through said perforations in the plate, and a leather strap connecting the central portion of said bar to the carpetholding plate and adapted to hold said bar normally in a raised position, substantially as set forth.

COURTLAND A. CHAMBERLAIN.

\Yitnesses W-oRTH CHAMBERLAIN, C. MAYFRED FAY. 

